The Return
by isoner
Summary: Years in the future, the Crystal Gems are recovering from a significant loss. New side effects of that loss are just starting to reveal themselves. Chapter 4: the Death of Steven Universe now up. Chapter 5: Funeral COMPLETE AS OF CHAPTER 7.
1. Reformed

Peridot was working on something important and tricky, so Lapis went for a flight to get out of her way. Whenever Peridot got tripped up by something, she flew into fits, and Lapis preferred to avoid her during those times. She had stayed away long enough, and returned to the Barn, also known as UUU Headquarters and the central office of PeriPis Inventive Industries.

Lapis landed, and encouraged her water-wings to evaporate into nothing. Peridot was nowhere to be seen, so she continued to look around, maybe get some hint as to the secret project Peridot was working on.

Then she found Peridot. She had been Poofed and her Gem was trapped in a pinkish bubble on the floor. "Peridot!" Lapis gently picked up the bubble and popped it, letting the Gem fall into her hands. It wasn't long before Peridot reconstituted herself into her tiny green body with diamond shaped yellow "hair."

"Are you okay? What happened?" Lapis asked.

"She poofed me! I can't believe she poofed me! At least she didn't harvest me."

"Who did?"

"I need to talk to Garnet. Can I use your transportable vibrational communications device?"

Lapis handed Peridot her cell phone, and Peridot connected her call.

"Garnet? This is Peridot. I took the Gem."

"YOU WHAT?" Lapis heard Garnet shout through the phone.

"Look, we already discussed this, and I was right. Can you imagine what it would have been like if the gem was freed naturally? I know you have a soft spot for the guy. So do l. I couldn't even do it myself, I had to send a retrieval robonoid to get it."

"I'm sorry, Peridot, I'm being sentimental. Of course you are right. So what happened?" Garnet said.

"First Steven's lion showed up, then the Gem revived… and then… the oversized clod POOFED ME and left me in a bubble."

"She's gone?"

"Yes."

"Ok. See you at the party later?"

"You know it. Lapis will be there too."

"Good. See you then."

"But what about…?" But Garnet had already hung up the phone.


	2. Lost and new Connections

Everything was different now. That shouldn't have surprised her, this was earth, after all. How long had she been gone?

The carwash was gone, and no sign of the van. She thought about going to the temple, but they were not who she wanted to see first.

When she finally did track down the van it was parked behind a house she had never seen before. The Mr. Universe logo was still on the side, but the tires were flat and the metal was rusty.

"Greg?" She opened the back of the van. It was empty, with no sign of its former owner having been there in some time.

Disappointed, she moved to the house, where she started hearing music.

"They are the Crystal Gems," a female voice was singing, "they'll always save the day… and if you think they can't, they'll always find a way. That's why the people of this world believe in Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl… and Stevonnie!". The song ended in a slight giggle.

"But what about Lapis?"

"Or Peridot?"

She didn't recognize any of the voices, but she did recognize the subject. Maybe this was the place?

She knocked on the back door. There was a sudden silence in the house, followed by shuffling noises.

A woman with grey hair and brown skin opened the door.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for the owner of that van."

"I suppose that would be me now," she said with a hint of sadness.

"Oh," her disappointment was obvious.

"Were you looking for Steven? Or…"

"Greg."

"I'm sorry, he passed away several years ago."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Of course, I should have realized."

"Years spent living in his van wasn't good for him, but we put him up here for his last few years. Would you like to come in?"

"I don't want to impose."

The brown skinned woman opened the door wide, and got a better look at her visitor. Her large frame, pink hair and… "our Gem?"

"What?"

"Your Rose?"

"Yes."

"You have to come in, please. I'm Connie, I knew your son."

Rose looked over Connie, and reached down, touching her Gem. "I can tell, he loved you very much."

She had to bend down to fit through the doorway, but Rose entered the house. The walls were filled with photographs of Connie and a larger white man who resembled Greg posing together, and a few pictures of two children that Rose was almost certain had to belong to the two of them.

"Is that him?" Rose asked.

"Yes, that was my Steven. The kids are Steven Gregory and Rosie Kate."

A centipedal walked up and rubbed against Connie's leg. She reached down and scratched it's head.

"It's not aggressive?"

"Steven trained it and it loves the kids."

It growled and slobbered at Rose then pranced off.

"It's gem didn't appear to be corrupted, why is she still a monster?"

Connie shrugged. "The going theory is that it's happiest moments were as a centipedal, so it preferred that form."

Rose followed Connie into the family room. She found it amusing that the children were keeping them under surveillance, but were too bashful to make their presence known.

Hanging on the wall, too high for the children to be able to reach, Rose saw her sword and scabbard on display. She started to reach for it, but when she did, Connie moved like a graceful brown blur. A fire was in her eyes, the sword poised to strike.

"I'm sorry.". Connie lowered the sword. "It's my reflexes, I won't attack you. It is your sword after all.". Vinnie offered Rose the handle.

"I should have asked, the apology is mine to give. Since you use it with such skill, I believe the sword is yours now. Pearl trained you?"

"Yes."

"I'm surprised. She tends to avoid involvement with humans."

"A lot has changed. Pearl had a hard time getting over your… loss. She loved you, you know."

"And I love her."

"No," Connie chuckled. "Not like that, she loved you the way a human does. The same way that Greg did."

Rose appeared a combination of confused and alarmed. "I didn't understand then."

"Pearl worked it out. She trained me because she saw the same devotion she felt for you in the way I felt for Steven. He and I are… were quite the team." Connie grew silent, a shadow fell across her spirits. "We are having a birthday party today. I hope you will stay for it. Everyone will be there. You should get to know your grandchildren."

"I think I would like that. And it will be a good way to see everyone again."

"Excuse me a second, Rose," Connie said, standing. "Rosie! I don't hear you and Stevie practicing?"

A plump little girl with light brown skin and wearing glasses with no lenses because felt they made her look smarter stood up from behind the sofa. "But Stevie is watching TV. Is she really my Grandmother?"

"Why is he watching TV?" Connie marched to Stevie's room where the thin boy with bushy eyebrows and curly hair was laying down in front of his TV, watching professional wrestling. "I thought I told you not to watch this show!"

"But Mom… Look."

"The Purple Puma wins by a chair!" the announcer said. "We now take you ringside for a word with the victor."

The Purple Puma stared directly into the camera, "I want to dedicate this win to my first partner, Tiger Millionaire. Tiger may be fighting on that big wrestling mat in the sky now, but his lessons have never left me: Even a bad guy like me can be a hero, with a cool enough backstory!"

"Is that Amethyst?" Rose asked.

Connie covered her eyes in shame, "Yes. She and Steven use to do this to let off steam. I had no idea she went professional."

"I guess a lot has changed," Rose admitted.


	3. The Party

"Welcome!" Connie greeted Peridot and Lapis at the door. "Please come in."

"Thank you," Lapis said.

"Here," Peridot presented a wrapped box, "I hope it proves educational."

"Thank you," Connie said, "We'll unwrap gifts after cake."

"Fine, fine," Peridot said, following Lapis into the house.

They were greeted by the oversized Gem, Rose Quartz with her large pink hair, and holding a bowl of snack mix. "Would you like some?"

"You," Peridot said, with annoyance.

"You!" Lapis said with a hint of hatred in her voice. "Why did you leave me in that mirror? What had I ever done to you?"

"Calm down," Peridot tried to soothe Lapis, "I thought we had worked through this."

"I-I'm sorry. I thought… never mind what I thought. I was obviously mistaken, and Steven felt a great deal of affection for you," Rose said.

Lapis stopped Peridot from speaking, "How do you know what Steven felt?"

"I—My Gem was part of him. I didn't know what was going on, or what he was doing, but I could feel what he was feeling. I can still feel it now."

"And why did you POOF ME!" Peridot demanded. "I go out of my way to get you a nice place to restore yourself, and how do you repay me? POOF! It was not plesant."

"I thought you were a Homeworld Gem—"

"I am a homeworld Gem. Or I was."

"That I had been captured."

Peridot studied her skeptically. "I suppose. You know I didn't like any of you Crystal Clods when I first got here… but they've grown on me."

"And my Steven?"

"He was my first... Friend. Lapis here is my third. He helped me stop the Cluster from destroying your Earth. It was quite exciting."

Lapis stepped forward. "Steven befriended me, freed me from my mirror, and healed my Gem so I could go home. When they brought me back… Steven helped me make choices for myself, find a home."

"And she couldn't have had a better roommate, Right?" Peridot said.

"…"

"Hey!"

"You grew on me."

"So," Rose said, "Snack mix?"

"Ehhh…. Sure," Peridot said.

Suddenly there was the sound of a small tornado as the two Universe chidren came running into and around the room.

"Aunt Lapis! Aunt Peridot! What did you get me?" Stevie asked.

"I got you a present," Peridot said.

"It's a surprise!" Lapis said, a touch of joy in her voice as she knelt to be eye to eye with the children. "What have you been doing since I last saw you?"

"We made up a new game," Rosie said. "It's called Bumper Cars."

"How do you play it?" Lapis asked.

"We run around and bump into each other, and then we bounce around!" Stevie explained.

"It's really fun!" Rosie confirmed, "You wanna see it?"

"Yes, but maybe later, okay?"

Connie opened the front door for the set of visitors. Garnet and Amethyst came in.

Garnet absent mindedly handed Connie her wrapped gift, while searching the rooms beyond her for Rose.

"Thanks for having us, Connie," Amethyst said.

"Your welcome. We saw you on TV. That was a really touching tribute you gave there," Connie said.

"Aw, it was nothing. Where's the food?"

"Would you care for some snack mix?" Rose asked.

"Oh, yea-yah!" Amethyst said. "ROSE!"

"So its true, you are back," Garnet said, wiping away a tear.

"It's so good to see you again," Rose said.

Amethyst and Garnet moved in for a hug.

"It's been so long," Amethyst said. "I wish…"

"I know," Rose said. "Where is Pearl?"

"She will be along soon," Garnet said. "She hasn't been spending that much time at the Temple lately."

"She hasn't? Is something wrong?"

"Nah, Pearl's doing great!" Amethyst said.

"She has been staying with a friend in the city," Garnet said.

"What do you think of Steven's kids?" Amethyst asked.

"It is all so new. I haven't figured out what to think about anything," Rose said, "I came here just hoping that someone could tell me about my son. He sounds like a wonderful person."

"He was great," Amethyst said, sounding sad.

"Maybe we can get Pearl to play some of her home movies," Garnet said.

"That would be nice."

"Now, I think I owe a birthday boy a Super Noogie!" Garnet activated one of her gauntlets and turned towards the kids, who screamed and ran from the room.

Stevie was like his father in that he had no problem making friends. He had already had one birthday party with his friends; this party was for his family. Since his father was now gone, Connie felt it was important that the children interact with the Crystal Gems to maintain a connection with their father. Her own parents were not quite as sure as she was about that.

Socially speaking, Rosie was more like her mother; studious, and she tended to stay away from other kids her age. Connie told herself that Rosie was going to be like she was with Steven and her few friends: Quality over quantity.

The doorbell rang, and Connie again answered the door. This time it was Pearl, whose face now sported age lines so that she would look the same age as her partner, Karen, the woman who was standing just behind her with medium length pink hair and an average build.

"You don't have to worry, Connie, I picked it out," Karen said, handing over a package.

"Well, I did help with the selection," Pearl said.

"Thank you," Connie leaned out and hugged the two of them, welcoming them inside.

"ROSE!" Pearl shouted. She leaped across the room, enveloping Rose in a hug, throwing snack mix everywhere, much to the delight of the children.

Amethyst was amused by how tiny and frail Pearl looked while trying to wrap herself around Rose.

Karen was less than amused.

"How are you here?" Pearl asked, "I mean how are you back? It is so good to see you again."

"It is so good to see you too, Pearl. It has been such a long time. Are you going to introduce me?" Rose asked.

"What? OH, yes, of course! Rose, this is Karen… the light of my life."

"I'm glad to meet you, Karen. Even happier that you have been able to make Pearl so happy."

"Not as happy as you it seems," Karen whispered under her breath. She extended her hand. "Its good to finally meet you, Rose."

Rose bypassed her hand, and enveloped the woman in a massive hug.

Tears welled up in Pearl's eyes, "I'm just so happy the two of you are getting along."

"Umph," Karen's voice was muffled against Rose's bosom.

Karen was rescued by the timely intervention of Connie. "I have food for anyone who wants to eat. I've made fish momos, Manicotti, Roti bread, and more. And afterwards, we have birthday cake."

"All right!" Amethyst led the procession into the dining room.

"Remember, Amethyst, don't eat the plates!" Pearl cautioned.

"Rose, if you like, you can sit at the end of the table," Connie suggested.

"Okay"

"That was dad's seat," Stevie said.

Connie was about to say something but it was lost in a wave of emotion. She settled for nodding.

Garnet went up to Connie, and placed her forehead against Connie's. "Remember, it's still just a thought."

"Thanks," Connie agreed meekly.

Little Rosie ran up to Pearl holding a plate filled with food. "I fixed you a plate, Aunt Pearl."

"Um…" Pearl visibly paled. "Thank you?"

"Don't worry," Rosie said, "I'll help you eat it too."

"Oh, thank you Rosie!" Pearl was relieved.

"Well what am I going to do with this?" Karen asked about the second plate in her hand.

"I'll take it," Amethyst walked by, grabbed the plate and dumped the entire contents into her waiting mouth.

Meal time conversation started talking about the kids. What they were doing in school, the projects they were working on, which of their classmates they liked. How their lives were different from Steven being homeschooled or all the extra projects Connie was always doing. Was there any new progress on healing the corrupted Gems? Or to the idea that the Homeworld Gem Fusion experiments could be used to reform a shattered Gem? Many comments were made about how Pearl had aged her appearance again. They talked about the progress Karen was making in her job, and how their relationship was progressing.

"Are you and Karen going to have any kids?" Stevie asked Pearl, much to everyone's amusement and embarrassment.

"I don't think so," Pearl said. "Only one Gem has ever had a child with a Human.

"Stevie, the genders don't line up right, for Pearl and Karen," Connie said. "I'll try to explain it to you tonight, okay?" Suddenly her other worries were buried by the impending doom of the need to give her kids the birds and the bees talk. She tried to remember the conversation she had with her own parents, but for some reason, couldn't.

"That's not exactly true in this case," Rose said. "We are Gems. Literally, our bodies are merely projections of our souls. Gems are rocks, and rocks don't have gender… but humans do. Greg was a male, so I took the female role in the birth of Steven. If Pearl and Karen did want to have a child… they could, and it would be easier than it was for me."

Everyone at the table had been stunned into silence… Karen and Pearl were both blushing and wising they could be anywhere but there. Rosie helped herself to another bite from Pearl's plate.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I just seem to be making all sorts of social blunders today. Maybe I should leave."

"Please don't," Connie said.

"It's fine, Rose," Pearl said. "Karen and I hadn't really even thought about it, although I suppose that we will be thinking about it now."

"We'll discuss it," Karen said.

"Hmm."

"Garnet, what are you thinking?" Amethyst asked.

"I'm just thinking about all the Gems back at the Temple… and what we could do to give a few of them a new chance at life."

"I'm done, can I be excused?" Stevie asked.

"Yeah," Rosie agreed. "This conversation has gotten weird."

"Yeah, go ahead," Connie said, breaking one of her usual rules, but the kids were right, the conversation had taken an unexpected turn.

"What else can you tell me about my son?" Rose asked.

"He was very musical," Pearl said, "Always singing."

"Or teaching others how to," Peridot said.

"Full of compassion," Lapis said.

"Don't forget about those watermelon stevens!" Amethyst said.

"Everyone here loved him very much," Garnet said. "Even at an early age, he had quite an impact on everyone in town."

"Let me show you the first song Steven ever played for us," Pearl said.

From the pearl on her forehead, Pearl projected a holographic image of a very young Steven sitting with his father in the back of the old van with a small ukulele in his hand. He started strumming and singing: "If your evil and you're on the rise, you can count on the four of us taking you down, cause we're good and evil never beats us, we'll win the fight and then go out for pizzas. We are the Crystal Gems, we'll always save the day, and if you think we can, we'll always find a way. That's why the people of this world believe in Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl—and Steven…"

From there, Pearl started fielding requests of other scenes from the past that she was able to remember and project. Steven and Lapis. Steven and Connie forming Stevonnie. Smoky Quartz in action. Steven performing at Beach-a-Palooza. Hundreds of temporal copies of Steven fighting over a small timepiece. Steven and Connie practicing their tag team fighting style: Steven with the shield and Connie with Rose's sword…

The holographic display faded, darkness filling the room to accompany the gentle sounds of sobbing coming from the end of the table opposite Rose. Connie had doubled over and was crying.

Garnet reached over to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's not fair!" Connie shouted. "I should have been there! I was his knight, it was my job to protect him!"

"If you had gone, you would have died too," Garnet softly said.

"You can't know that! You've been wrong before!"

"Mom?" Rosie said from the doorway.

Lapis quickly stood up, whispering "I got this." She moved to escort Rosie out of the room. "How bout you two show me that game of yours now?"

"I didn't choose for it to go down this way," the Ruby part of Garnet said, while the Sapphire part countered "We gave the choice to Steven." "No, he took it away from us!" "This isn't about us now." Garnet blurred, but she remained Garnet.

"All the things he should be able to see, to do, but now he's gone! And he shouldn't be! I should have been the one, he was the one with the magical destiny. There's no way I can make up for that."

"Is this my fault too?" Rose whispered.

Pearl looked over at the sobbing Connie, then to Rose, whispering back, "No. She needs to talk and work through this on her own. I was never able to get over your loss until I finally talked it out with Greg."

Feeling extremely uncomfortable Peridot made as discrete an exit as she could, inching along the walls of the dining room.

Karen reached across and took Connie's hand. "It's okay to cry it out, we all miss Steven."

"You don't understand," Connie said, "It's not just Steven who died. Stevonnie's dead too… I can never get Steven or that part of myself back!"

None of them could say anything, not the confused Rose, or Karen or Amethyst or even Pearl who knew what it was like to lose someone they had once fused with. It was a loss the like of which Garnet couldn't even conceive of despite her advanced knowledge of fusion. They all supported Connie and each other in silence, as a family united by grief, gathered together for what was supposed to be a festive occasion.

Shortly, Lapis came to the door, and discretely got Garnet's attention, summoning her outside. Rose followed.

"Is something wrong, Lapis?" Garnet asked.

"No? Maybe? I'm not sure, but they don't have Gems, right?" Lapis said.

"Right," Garnet answered. "I checked."

"Okay now kids," Peridot said, "start the game again from the beginning."

"Okay," both the children yelled from opposite sides of the back yard. The two children started running at each other, but then just as they were about to collide, they were each enveloped by a pink bubble, which bounced them off of each other and around the back yard.

Garnet removed her visor, exposing all three of her eyes. "Did you know this was going to happen?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Rose answered.

"I just remembered," Garnet said, "Connie needs someone to watch the kids while she is working now. I suppose we could keep watch over them for her at the Temple. Help them learn how to use their powers."

"And figure out how they can have powers without Gems," Peridot said.

"Maybe I will get to look after my… Grandchildren, the way you all got to look after my Steven?" Rose said. "I just love how this planet creates so much change!"

"The future just got a lot more interesting," Peridot said.

"Doesn't it always?" Garnet answered.

"I have one more thing I wanted to ask you about Steven…" Rose said, gearing up to ask Garnet the big question about the lost son she could never meet.


	4. The Death of Steven Universe

"How did Steven die?" Rose asked.

"Heroically," Garnet answered.

"But what happened exactly?"

"I wasn't there," Garnet said. "The mission was a trap. I knew it, but if we didn't go anyway Last Diamond was going to shatter the Earth. Their main goal was to capture Stevonnie, failing that, they were to eliminate us."

-o-

"We've got a mission, Gems. We'll leave in about 15 minutes," Garnet said.

"I'll call Connie," Steven said.

"I don't think you should bring her on this one. Not all of us are going to make it back," Garnet said.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see," she said, kissing him on the forehead.

Future vision. Sapphire always had it, and it allowed her to view future currents to make better decisions in the now, but sometimes she would use it to avoid the now. It was the gift that help make Garnet such a good leader, and she could grant that gift to others for a limited amount of time.

Steven saw himself as Stevonnie arriving with the Gems on the portal where they immediately fall under fierce attack. If Stevonnie gives him/herself up they will let the Crystal Gems go, and leave the Earth. Stevonnie agrees, over the objections of the others. They are taken and bound to a table, unable to unfuse. They scream in pain as six Peridots slowly remove their organs, to study the nature of their organic fusion. Bad End. Steven saw himself and the Crystal Gems arrive on the portal, and fall under immediate attack, with only his shield to save them. It is just a matter of seconds before they break his shield and kill them all. Pearl and Amethyst fuse into Opal, and Steven opens a hole in the shield that allows Opal to fire an arrow at the World Breaker, destroying it. The resulting explosion, shatters Steven's shield, and Poofs the Gems. He is thrown back, and sees two of the Crystal Gems shatter, but he can't tell which two. Bad End.

Steven stands there, running every possible alteration he can think of to find a good end to the situation. If they don't go, the World Breaker will be turned on in another 12 hours, shattering the Earth. Another bad end.

He remembered how Garnet had told him how Sapphire knew her fate and had accepted it. He wondered if he would be able to do the same.

Steven was no longer the dumpy little boy he had been. He had grown, and filled out nicely into a man many considered quite handsome, but there was still an uncertain naive little boy deep inside him. "Garnet?"

"Yes Steven?" Garnet was polishing a huge axe she had once collected off the battlefield.

"Will I poof?"

She stopped. "I don't know. Your powers have always been…"

"Unreliable?"

"I was going to say unpredictable. You might poof, or you might not. You might poof this time, but not the next time. Even with my Future Vision, I haven't been able to see what will happen."

"I'm ready." Steven grabbed his mother's sword, and stood in the center of the teleportation pad. He was soon joined by Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. They all seemed so confident, almost happy to into one more battle against their own kind.

Garnet tilted her head, seeing something new for the first time. "Steven, what—"

Steven's sword flashed, and in a puff of smoke, four Gems fell to the floor. He carefully picked them up, and placed them gently on the sofa. Ruby and Sapphire next to each other on one end, then Pearl, and finally, Amethyst. "Thanks for taking such good care of me. If this goes wrong, I'll need you to look after my children. If you do half as good a job as you did with me, everything will be fine."

Steven left the house, and walked down to the beach. Last Diamond's trap depended on them coming in on the teleport pad, but unlike the rest of the Gem's, Steven didn't need it.

"Lion!" Steven's call was rewarded by the appearance of the pink beast. It stood there, just looking at him. He climbed up on it's back. "Let's go, old friend."

The lion growled, and jumped. It took off from the beach, but landed in a field filled with Ruby and Quartz soldiers. The lion sailed over their heads and touched down between Last Diamond and the World Breaker.

"Last Diamond," Steven said, "End this, and we won't need to fight. Leave this world in peace, and there will be no need for further conflict between us."

"After everything you Crystal Gems have done? Never! Corruption is too good for the likes of you," the Diamond said.

"The only things we've done, are the things you've forced us to do to defend ourselves and this world. Today's actions included."

Quartz soldiers tried to move up to defend their Diamond, but when any got too close, a roaring blast from lion forced them back.

Steven swung the sword again, nicking the crystal that provided power to the World Breaker. He then stabbed the sword down into the ground in front of him and knelt down. A rose blossom formed around him, solidifying into a solid shield bubble that surrounded him. He kept one hand on the hilt of the sword, and the other, was across his Gem, as one extra layer of protection.

The World Breaker exploded, sending a massive shockwave across the field, leveling soldiers, trees and everything else in range.

-o-

The teleport pad activated, and Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis and Peridot appeared. Before them was a massive battlefield of lost or wounded soldiers. So many Gems and Gem shards were scattered everywhere.

"Bubble everything," Pearl said franticly, "we can't let this have been for nothing." She bent over and bubbled a small pile of gem shards.

"Last Diamond is around here somewhere," Garnet said, "we can't let her reform."

Lapis didn't bother about trying to bubble anything. She sprouted her water wings and started flying across the field. She found what she was looking for. She landed next to Steven's fallen form. "Steven? Wake up. Why aren't you moving? Steven? He's not breathing. He told me once he needed to breath, why isn't he breathing?"

Garnet walked over to Lapis, bubbling a few Gems as she went, including the shattered shards of a Diamond. She looked down at Steven and Lapis, and adjusted her visor so no one could see her eyes. "He's gone, Lapis."

"But he's right there," Peridot approached, sending a bubbled Gem to her home with a tap.

Garnet took a deep breath, and wiped under her visor. "Human's aren't like us, and Steven is half human. I don't know what Humans have in place of a Gem... but his has been broken… Shattered like so many of the other Gems here."

"Can we fix him?" Peridot asked.

Garnet shook her head and walked off, bubbling more Gems as she passed them. Once she was out of sight of everybody, she fell to her knees and cried.

Tears rained down Lapis' face, now that the concept of death had registered and been fully understood. She sat so that Steven's head was on her lap, and refused to move.

Peridot sniffled, and moved to stand behind Lapis to comfort her. The sadness she felt was easier for her to manage than it was for Lapis… but later, when they were back at the barn, she would sit and examine her tape recorder, and Lapis would have to do the same for her. At the moment, she tried to keep her mind on other things, like the wreckage of the World Breaker. There wasn't much left, but she couldn't get any closer to it without disturbing Lapis.

"STEVEN!" Pearl ran over to his fallen form. Tears were streaming from her face before she was half way to him. She collapsed next to him and Lapis, just looking down at his body. She focused on Steven's Gem, "I'm sorry Rose. I couldn't protect him. It feels like losing you all over again, except worse." She stroked the hair Steven never combed.

"What's everybody doing over here?" Amethyst asked, as she walked over. She saw Steven's prone body, but the heartbroken look on Pearl's face told her all she needed to know. "Awww, Steven… I was supposed to be the impulsive one, always getting poofed or damaged, not you."

After what seemed like hours, a Quartz Gem glowed and raised itself into the air to reform, but a quick lash from Amethyst's whip rendered it dormant again.

"We better get back to bubbling those Gems," Amethyst said.

"Your right," Pearl admitted. "We'll have to take his body back to Connie." She stood up, rested her fingers ever so gently on Rose's sword, then set to work, looking for a bubbling the fallen Gems.

Amethyst buried herself in the dull repetitive nature of the work, keeping her head down so nobody could see the tears streaming down her face. She was supposed to be the tough one, carefree, not caring about anything. That certainly wasn't the way she felt.

Collecting the Gems took forever, at least that was how it seemed. The highest concentrations had been around the warp pad, and near Steven's body.

Pearl generated two long spears, and used some ruined cloth laying around to make a stretcher. They put Steven's body on it, and carried it home.

-o-

There was a knock on the front door, and Connie rushed to answer it without tripping over her children as they tried to keep pace with her.

Pearl was standing just outside, holding Rose's Sword, in it's scabbard. Tears were still streaming down her face as she offered the Sword to Connie.

"Steven?" Connie asked with a touch of hope in her voice.

Pearl slowly shook her head.

Tears swelled up in Connie's eyes. She crouched down and enveloped her two children in a bear hug, and didn't let go.

"What's wrong, Mommy?" little Rosie asked.


	5. The Funeral

The Funeral

Virtually the entire town of Beach City had turned out for the funeral. Of course there really weren't that many residents in the town.

They were all seated in metal folding chairs that had been lined up in front of the casket holding Steven Universe.

In the front row was Connie, with her two children, and her parents, who were putting up a front of sadness to cover their relief that Steven could no longer be part of their daughter's life. Connie was keeping up a brave front of her own, trying to be strong for her children, who were letting loose with a steady stream of tears.

"Would anyone like to step up and say a few words?" the man leading the ceremony said.

Mayor Dewey, of course, stood up first to take the stand. He adjusted his ever present sunglasses, and cleared his throat. "We all know and love the annual stage play of the founding of Beach City, which was written by my father, the previous Mayor Dewey. However very few people remember that the first showing of that play only included two actors. Steven himself played the lead… Captain Dewey himself. Despite the small cast, I still remember it as one of the most moving moments of my life… Thank you, Steven!"

The Mayor sat down, and Onion stood up to take the stand. He paused once to scratch his leg where his Ankle Monitor was firmly attached. He opened his mouth to speak, but was suddenly overcome with such emotion, that he had to return to his seat without saying a word.

By chance, Sadie had taken the seat next to Lars. "Steven always thought we were the perfect couple, didn't he?"

"Boy, he sure had that one wrong," Lars laughed. "I'm going to miss the guy."

"Me too," Sadie leaned her head against Lars, and for once neither one of them seemed to mind.

Ronaldo took the stand. "I knew Steven better than any of you. We were kindred spirits, specializing in the Unknown that you normal people want to turn your backs on and pretend doesn't exist… be it the Mole Persons, or Alien invaders from Space! Now that Steven is gone, I'm sure it is just a matter of time before they target me… I too, know too much. But… without you, Steven, Beach City just became a lot less weird, and I am truly going to miss you."

Peedee followed his brother up onto the stand. He set a small tray of fry bits on top of the casket. "That's for you, buddy. Every day it was the same thing. Steven would stop by with his kids in tow, and demand 'Gimmie the bits!' and there was no denying him. It didn't matter that wasn't on the menu… he wanted the bits, and he was going to get them. Well, they're on the menu now."

Kiki's sister glared at her, but Kiki remained firm, "Nuh-uh… I ain't going up there."

"Sadie," Lars said, "you should go and sing."

"What? Lars, you can't be serious?"

"Of course, you have a wonderful voice, and you know how much Steven loved music and singing. It wouldn't be right to send him off without a song."

Sadie looked around, but it didn't look like anyone else was going to go up there, and Lars was right about the song. She stood up and went to the stand.

"It was just pointed out to me, that it would be wrong to say goodbye to someone who loved singing as much as Steven did without a song. My usual song isn't right for this occasion… I'll try to come up with something else… I apologize now if I completely mangle it."

Sadie began to sing Amazing Grace, a song she associated with funerals. Everyone who was at the service later commented that it was the finest rendering of the song they had ever heard.

In the back, a few feet behind where everyone was sitting, stood the Crystal Gems, and Pearl's girlfriend, Karen.

"Connie seems to be holding up really well," Pearl said.

"She's not," Garnet said. "She's going to need us when she finally faces it."

"Oh."

"We should be up front in the family section," Amethyst said. "I wanted a better view. It is nice what everyone is saying about him." She wiped another stray tear from her eye.

"Thanks for keeping the rain away," Garnet said.

"It was the least I could do," Lapis said. Her eyes were still red.

"This isn't personal," Peridot said, "I loved the guy… he was my first friend… ever, but we need to think about the larger picture."

"What are you saying, Peridot?" Pearl asked.

"We should remove his Gem," Peridot said.

Pearl looked shocked that anyone would even think of desecrating Steven's body in such a way.

"No," Garnet said.

"But…"

"No!" Garnet insisted.

"Ugh!"

Bored with the argument, and noticing that the funeral service was starting to break up, Amethyst left the argument to get in the line of people passing by Connie and the kids.

Onion wanted to say something, but again, words failed him.

"Thanks, Onion," Connie said to the unspoken statement.

Connie hugged Sadie when she passed. "Thank you. You were right, it needed a song."

"I just wish it had been better— I'm sorry." Sadie wiped away a tear and held her breath until the urge to cry passed.

Ronaldo made a big show about leaving clandestinely.

"Hey, Connie," Amethyst said.

"You guys should have been up front with me," Connie said.

Amethyst blinked, and wiped dust from her eyes. It had to be dust, right? "Garnet and Pearl couldn't—We didn't want to risk making a scene in front of the whole town… We didn't want to embarrass Steven."

"Steven didn't embarrass."

"Look, Connie, I still have a bunch of Greg's junk—stuff in my room. If you ever want any of it, or just to go through it… let me know."

"Sure… Don't you guys go anywhere yet. I need to give you something," Connie said.

Amethyst nodded, and tussled Stevie's hair as she walked past.

The Gems waited until the rest of the visitors had gone, and Connie and her family stood by the grave as the casket was lowered in and the cemetery workers started to fill in the hole.

Connie left her kids with her parents as she climbed the hill where the Gems were waiting.

They all embraced her in a group hug. Even an uncomfortable Peridot tried to get in on it. "Thanks for coming," Connie said.

"We wouldn't have missed it for anything," Garnet said.

"I want to help the kids move on as best they can, so I'm going to hold Stevie's birthday party next week. Will you be there?" She handed each of them an invitation that had been hand addressed by the little boy.

"Of course," Pearl said.

"Whatever you need," Garnet said.

"I get one too?" Lapis said.

"Of course, you're his favorite," Peridot said.

"This may be a bad time to ask this, but…" Pearl said, "why is your mother's hair black, while your's turned grey?"

"A long time ago, when she was trying to adjust to me and Steven, we agreed that we would each have one secret from each other. Her secret was the nature of her hair, so… no idea."

"What was your secret?" Amethyst asked.

"That I have more than one secret," Connie answered with her first smile since losing Steven."

[Thanks to Guest to pointing out my spelling error in the last chapter. I am nearly at the end of the story I wanted to tell. To answer Guest's question about Last Diamond… she is an original character. I was planning to follow the normal Gem naming scheme and the new jewelry trend and call her Chocolate Diamond, but then I decided that she was more unique and had achieved a rare level of individuality and given herself the title of Last Diamond. It doesn't mean she is the last Diamond, it means that when all is said and done, she plans to be the Last Diamond after uniting her entire culture under her own "benevolent" leadership. I hope I remembered to put everything in this chapter that I had wanted to… oh well, enjoy!]


	6. The Grave

The Grave

Steven's grave stone included a chiseled replica of his/Rose's Gem, his name: Steven Universe, the dates of his birth and death and an inscription: "Father, Husband, Friend, Crystal Gem." The dirt on the surface of the grave had been recently disturbed by one of Peridot's retriveoids, but the dirt was starting to settle.

The children with their short attention spans were dueling with Nerf Swords among the older tombstones.

Connie stood at the foot of the grave, staring intently at it. "It still doesn't seem quite real, but then nothing about him did… except for when it became too real. I miss you so much."

Rose stood next to her, maintaining a respectful silence. "I'm sorry," Rose filled the silence, "I never thought that what Greg and I did would ever cause anyone this much pain."

"No!" Connie insisted. "Ever since I was a kid, Steven was the biggest source of joy, friendship, and happiness in my life! I can't imagine what I would have done, or become without him. He saw me, when no one else did, in a crowd of people he once saw me drop a bracelet. A year later he started talking to me, and I had no idea why he would, or why anyone would even care about me. That started our first magical adventure together, and it never stopped. The joys, the scares, the hurts and cuts and efforts, and monsters… it was all worth it. More than worth it, because in the end, he gave me them," she gestured to her children, "and with them, the magic and adventure will never end. And, I didn't mean that literally."

Rose enveloped the small woman in another hug. "Thanks, Rose."

"No, Connie. Thank you. Where is Greg?"

Connie pointed to a free section of grass to the right of Steven's grave, "That is where I'll go. Greg is on that side. Next to him is Steven's Uncle Andy. The entire family will be together."

"I used to wonder why humans set aside areas like this," Rose said. "I understand now."

Greg's ornately decorated stone read "Greg Universe, Beloved Father and Friend. Cherry Man. Rock Star. Lived like a Comet."

"Amethyst got Vidalia to make the stone… with input from Pearl."

"I'm glad they finally started getting along."

"It may just sit around, but Pearl still comes around to work on his van when she gets frustrated. Back then, Pearl's technical skills are the only thing that kept that old van running… the number of times it got flooded, crushed or cannibalized for other projects, it was amazing that Pearl was able to keep it running."

"Thank you for bringing me here. It's good to know where they are… I expect I will be visiting here often. I would have preferred it if they had been placed in my garden…"

"Where the fountain of you is?"

"Yes. I love it there…"

"Pearl mentioned it, but that is such a private place, hard for normal humans to get to. It also turned out that Greg's music was a lot more popular than he thought. MTV did a Behind the Music special on him, wondering where he had disappeared to for so many years. Turns out his Manager not only cheated him, but he was really bad a promotions."

"I knew his music was good. It had a universal appeal."

Connie laughed.

"Thank you for bringing me here," Rose said, fixing Connie with an earnest gaze before turning back to the graves. She started to sing. "If I could begin to be half of what you thought of me, I could do anything. I could even learn how to love… I always thought I might be bad, now I'm sure that it's true, 'cause you were so good, and I'm nothing like you… Now that your gone, I think its finally true that I have learned to love like you…"

[This chapter was unexpected. I was planning to jump directly to the next one, but this one popped up at the last minute and demanded to be written. I like it. It makes a nice connecting piece going from the funeral in the 'past' to the grave in the 'present'. I appreciate all reviews, my ego needs them.]


	7. To the Future

To the future:

As she did before meeting Greg for the first time, Rose tended to spend way too much time in the heart of the Temple. Gazing up, the sheer number of Gems they had collected had increased tremendously. The most recent ones were healthy Homeworld Gems, but the rest were gem shards, or corrupted Gems… most of whom had been friends. There was another new one… Bismuth. How did she get here?

Soon they would have to decide what to do with those Homeworld Gems. It was cruel to keep them like this. Lapis had been very firm in what treatment she thought healthy Gems should receive. She had earned the other's trust, that meant a lot. It meant she deserved her trust too.

Rose was not alone in the room. Little Steven was there too. Now that his dad was gone, he didn't want to be called by the childish nickname of Stevie.

"How did you get in here?" Rose asked.

"They hurt," he said.

"Not anymore. Not while they are in the bubbles."

"That one does," Steven pointed up at a particular Gem shard.

She did feel a twinge from it, but she thought it had been her imagination. She summoned the bubble into her hand and held it down so the two of them could examine it together. Based on what Peridot and the others had told her about the Cluster, shards were capable of a lot more than she had originally assumed. "What's wrong with this one?"

"It want's something," he said.

It was a shard that had once been forcibly revived and fused during the Homeworld experiments. "What does it want?"

The boy paused for a moment, before pointing back up to the high celling of the room. "That one."

Standing, Rose summoned the bubbled Gem shard the boy had indicated. This one was in a purple bubble. She gently popped the two bubbles and the two shards fell together in her hands. They seemed to fit together nicely, although they were still not a whole Gem. A tear came to her eye that her grandson had been able to unite two shards that belonged together, and another for the pain the Gem was experiencing. She wondered which side this Gem had fought for? Her tear landed on the broken gem shards, and they fused together. Where was the rest of it, she wondered?

"Good job, Steven."

"Will I be able to do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe you will. Let's go back up into the house. I'm sure your mother will be wondering what happened to you."

She walked with the boy back up to the house. The picture of Rose that had been hanging over the doorway now hung in the Universe house, and had been replaced with a picture of Steven that had been painted by Vidalia many years before.

Pearl was helping Connie set the kitchen table, while Karen was sitting on the sofa. "Karen wasn't feeling well this morning," Pearl said, "I thought she should rest as much as she could."

"Do you want me to take a look at her?" Connie asked.

"It's nothing, I'm fine!" Karen said.

"Maybe after dinner?" Pearl said.

"Sure, but the patient has to agree too," Connie said.

"Ugh, Fine! Just to get the two of you to back off!" Karen relented.

"Hey Steven, up here!" Amethyst shouted from the TV loft. "I found the crossover episode between Little Butler, Silver Spoons and Fresh Prince!"

"You have too much money," sounded from the TV.

Steven ran up the stairs and jumped into the seat next to Amethyst. "I can't believe you two like that show," Rosie said.

"It's a lot better than Crying Breakfast Friends," Garnet said. "We need to expand this house."

"Why is that?" Rose asked.

"It won't be big enough. Its already cramped when we have the Universes and our friends over. It's only going to be getting worse from here."

Peridot and Lapis came in. "Hello all," Lapis said.

Rosie ran up to the two, looking at Peridot eagerly. "Well?"

"Now look," Peridot said, "I already told you, a Gizmoduck costume is just too unrealistic and against the laws of physics to build… and besides which, you Mom won't let me."

"But?"

"Here," Peridot held something behind her back, which Rosie snatched up and ran through the house with it.

"Rosie, is that a GUN?!" Connie shouted. "Peridot!"

"What?" Peridot said innocently.

Rosie laughed manically. "I am the Terror that flaps in the night!" The gun emitted a thick purple smoke that quickly dissipated, but by that time, Rosie had run to stand dramatically at the top of the loft stairs.

Rose watched the entire scene with a smile on her face. Greg had told her what families were like, and had very much wanted her to be part of one with him. Even though he and Steven were now both gone, she finally understood what "family" meant, and it filled her Gem and her heart with a sense of fulfillment she could never have imagined before. Truly this Earth was a magical place.

"Come on everyone, lets gather around the table," Rose said.

VCR tapes were paused, gas guns were holstered, and people groaned as they got off the sofa as the Crystal Gems and the rest of their family gathered around the table. Connie dished out food to those who wanted it, and they began to eat and talk around the table like any traditional family. Before taking her own seat, Rose hit play on a CD of Greg's old music. That way his spirit could be present too.

-o-

After they ate, they all sat around, although Connie was dueling her two children with Nerf swords, and showing them they had a lot to learn.

"This is fun," Peridot said. "Why do we only do this on special occasions, we should do this a lot more often."

"Yeah," Amethyst said, recalling how cleaning up before the event had nearly driven Pearl crazy.

Garnet sat bolt upright. "Actually guys, some of us need to step out for about an hour. We have a mission."

"Did the castle of Time reset itself?" Rose asked.

"Oh, Steven destroyed that artifact a long time ago," Amethyst said.

"Another corrupted Gem is below the Arena," Garnet said.

"All right!" Amethyst got on the teleport pad, soon joined by Pearl, Garnet and Rose.

"Connie, would you like to come with us?" Rose asked.

"Sure!" Connie ran over to the pad while braiding her long hair into a single ponytail. "Karen could you watch the kids till we get back?"

"Sure. Pearl are you ever going to invite me on one of these things?" Karen asked.

"Well, um… after a few thousand hours of combat practice, sure," Pearl said.

Karen didn't look like she enjoyed the thought of that much training. "Have fun storming the castle," she said, and the Gems were off.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Peridot asked Karen and Lapis as they sat back down on the sofa.

-o-

The Corrupted Gem had taken on a form similar to a Centipedal, if it had been attached to the body of a giant spider, and was moving very close to the warp pad.

Connie pulled her pink sword with it's rose hilt. Rose generated her Shield and pulled out a sword similar to Connie's. Garnet generated her gauntlets and Amethyst pulled out a pair of whips, while Pearl pulled out her spear with a flourish.

For the Crystal Gems it was like the old days, although Connie wasn't sure how she was going to act without her usual fighting partner by her side. It saddened her, and that sadness effected Rose.

"Don't worry, Connie," Garnet said. "It's a different dynamic for all of us now."

"Yeah, go with the flow, and we'll figure it out," Amethyst said.

Rose felt the sadness fade, replaced with confidence from the reassurance. She charged at the creature, her large billowing skirt serving to distract and conceal the movements of Connie and the rest of the Gems. It recoiled when she swung her sword, but amethyst's whip kept it from retreating.

Garnet came in at the creature from the side. It spotted her and swatted her away, but it left the creature open for Pearl's strike from above, and a sword stab from below curtesy of Connie.

The corrupted Gem fell to the ground in a puff of smoke.

"Yeah, Poofed it!" Amethyst said.

"Good call, bringing Connie," Garnet said, "This would have taken way longer."

Rose picked up the Gem, tried to see if she recognized it, before bubbling it and sending it back to the temple.

"Good improvisation, Connie," Pearl said.

"Thanks," Connie answered.

"Improvisation?" Rose asked.

"I use to come in from above. Steven would give me a boost with his shield, but this way worked too," Connie said.

"I see," Rose said, "I never imagined two people could work together in that way."

"Well, we…" Connie stopped what she was going to say, for fear it would bring back unpleasant feelings for Pearl who envied the combined fighting style that Connie and Steven had developed. "It seemed to work for us."

"I think I'm going to be starting my training classes again!" Pearl said with stars in her eyes.

"Yep," Garnet said, matter of factly. "Let's get back before Peridot tries to turn the microwave into an MRI."

The End.

[This concludes the story I wanted to tell. I hope that everyone enjoyed it. Naturally I claim no ownership of Steven Universe or any of the characters. I did steal them for a while, but I think I got the put back before anyone noticed they were gone. I have no interest in continuing this further, but if someone else does, let me know. I would like to read what you do with it.]


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